Tintin Forums

Hi all,

A complete set of 3-in-1's and Michael Farr's book "The Complete Companion" has just arived on my doorstep. My late Xmas present!!
Now to pack up all my falling apart albums and start reading again...

A couple of questions: How did you guys find the book? and was it heavy going or just the right amount of info?

Opinions?

Cheers
Ranko

A very quick, enjoyable read that went by far too fast for me.

I could read about Hergé's process and the history behind the stories for hours and hours if I could just find enough books...

I just finished reading Mr. Farr's book and have to say I liked it more than Mr. Peeters book. They are similar in their layout, but Farr's book went more into detail about Hergé and his staff.

I never relized the amount of input they had or the work they did on the book. Maybe I was being nïave, but I thought they just did the colouring.

After reading this book I really wish somebody would translate Numa Sadoul's book into English.

Christopher R

I also got The Complete Companion for Christmas too. I think it's really cool!
It was rather funny how Hergé copied the most unimportant things from real life! Well, at least, they aren't important to me.

I have been presented the said book by my parents and I am lapping it up now!
I came to know that it cost them Indian Rupees 900/- (about 20 USD), which is slightly costly for Indian standards.

The initial books in the canon seems to be well researched but I am tad disappointed with the other chapters because I had already learned most of it on this forum, so there wasn't much 'extra' that I could glean from it except for the comparative photos and slides.

Throughout the book Hergé's interview with Numa Sadoul is refered to. Is the complete interview available in a book form??

I got this book when it first came out, and without a doubt I found it very intresting!
It's not a book you have to read cover-to-cover, you can just start reading about the making and influences for any story.
There are some great archival pictures in there, and some black-and-white newspaper pics as well.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the Michael Farr's book. He's an expert on Tintin stuff and the book covers all subjects about all 24 albuns.
Reference photos, different versions, Hergé's life at the time each book was made, etc. It's a must for all fans... like us!

Mr. Farr's Tintin: The Complete Companion opened my eyes in more ways than one. I never realised the level of research that Hergé went into to write and draw his books or the fact that some like The Broken Ear and King Ottokar's Sceptre were based on real-life conflicts and plots of Nazi invasion.

It was also fascinating to learn how they were affected by events in the real world. The influence of Hergé's Chinese friend over The Blue Lotus and subsequent adventures, or how books from Crab with the Golden Claws to Prisoners of the Sun avoided political comment due to the war.

The analysis was very detailed and inspiring (though I do not quite agree with Farr's assumption that Müller of The Black Island is a German agent).

It brought a whole new level of interest for me and I have since started collecting the Tintin editions as they were published in the 1930s and 40s. As far as I know these have not been made available in English but they should be.

Thank you Michael Farr.

No doubt Tintin - The Complete Companion by Michael Farr is an extremely good illustrated research book.
But I'd vote for Tintin: Hergé & His Creation by Harry Thompson as the best book ever written about Hergé and Tintin.
It's a must read for all Tintin fans. It's an immensely detailed and extremely enjoyable biography.
It's not an illustrated book, but that doesn't take any charm out of it.

The Complete Companion is an excellent book, but a little long if you read it from cover to cover. It benefits for being used as a reference book.
I found Benoît Peeters book an insightful and more user friendly book.